HYPNOPOMPIC

HYPNOPOMPIC: of or relating to the partially conscious state that precedes complete awakening from sleep

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Ruby pulled two coffee cups out of kitchen cupboard and set them next to the coffee maker, which was slowly filling the house with the beautiful aroma of coffee accompanied by the sizzle of bacon and eggs frying on the stove.  To Ruby the familiar smells and actions were calming.  The Donner household had been a second home to her for years and it was the home she missed the most during the year she had spent in Seattle.  Outside the house a fall thunderstorm rattled the panes of the windows; the blinds pulled to protect the privacy of the house's occupants and the fugitive they were sheltering.  Clearing her mind of everything but the situation at hand, she poured the coffee from the now filled pot into two cups.  She silently handed one to Matt as he entered the kitchen after she had forced him to go and clean up.

"How you doing?" she asked, even though she could tell.  The one thing that Matthew Donner had wanted for his daughter was for her to be safe – free from the constraints her dual heritage would place upon her – and now that was no longer possible.  The precautions they had taken had been overridden and now the only thing they could do was ride out the storm.  The briefest of smiles graced Ruby's lips before disappearing so quickly that Matt wondered if it had ever been there.

"She's still sleeping." he stated, ignoring her question.  "She probably will for a few more hours.  The flip takes a lot out of you."  She took a deep breath.  "Matt, we should be grateful that she's still with us."

"Yeah, but she'll never be free, especially after they discover the truth.  Every unattached male in Wolf Lake will be sniffing around."  Leave it to the father of a teenage girl to focus in on that problem of all the potential difficulties they could be facing.

"Sophia will know how to handle them.  Remember when I threw Buddy out of the second story biology lab window?"

Matt gave a faint smile at the memory.

"She will be fine Matt.  Sophia is strong.  She has too much of you and Marie in her to be anything else.  And she will accept what we tell her, but she is also going to be angry about all we have kept from her."

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Paige Matthews, former social worker, Charmed one, and increasingly powerful witch-whitelighter had been in her room trying to decide which one of the books she had just gotten from the magic store she should read, when she heard knocking.  "Yeah?"

"Paige, can I come in?"

"Yeah Leo, I'm decent." Paige called, expecting Leo to enter through the bedroom door, but instead there was the familiar blue-white light.  Then the forms of her brother-in-law and a brunette woman appeared.  "Leo?"

"Paige, this is Marie."  "Hello."  Paige was wondering what this was all about when Leo answered.

"Paige, you're getting your first charge."

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The forest had always been a lodestone for Sophia.  A center of calmness even after she discovered the truth about some of the wooded areas four-legged occupants.  But even the taint of knowledge couldn't prevent her from remembering the picnics she had shared with her mother in the forest and the feelings the forest invoked.  Always drawn to the forest, now the pull feels even stronger.  The primal invoking of needs so darkly alluring that she had pushed back until they would no longer be denied.

But this forest wasn't welcoming.  At first glance it was the same welcoming sanctuary, but with every step she took the forest grew, preventing her from making any headway.

"Sophia…"  "Sophia…"  "Sophia…" different voices called.

"Is anyone there?  Can someone help me?"  Sophia circled around but there was no one in sight.  "The time will be soon." the voices whispered, "You must be ready for the first test.  They will be watching."

"What?  Who will be watching?"

"Element first, sight next, and shape will meld.  Three of blood, mystically joined the world shall bow."

This wasn't making any sense to Sophia.  This wasn't why she was here.  "Who are you?"

"Who are you Sophia?"

"I am..." She broke off "I don't know…"

"Why don't you let us show you then."